Repeat
by Ourliazo
Summary: Tsuna's Soul Mark spelt out a word again and again, wrapping his hips like a belt. He assumes, despite the strange repetition, that it's one Soul Mark instead of many. His friends disagree.
1. Tsuna

Title: Repeat (Tsuna's Story)

Summary: Tsuna's Soul Mark spells out a word again and again, wrapping his hips like a belt. He assumes, despite the strange repetition, that it's one Soul Mark instead of many. His friends disagree.

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* * *

People are born with their Soul Mark, but it only fades into existence at around five or six years of age. Children are told, as soon as they can understand, that these Marks are a representation of their Soul Mate.

They are told that it can be a sentence spoken to or from their Soul Mate, perhaps even a word or picture describing them. They are reassured, over and over, that these Marks can be metaphors and most should not be taken literally.

It's not a new concept, even at that early age. Hundreds, probably thousands of websites and organisations dedicate themselves to helping people find Soul Mates. Plus, there's a ridiculous amount of people writing stories about their life journey, whether they find their Soul Mate or not.

Occasionally, a new celebrity has their Mark leaked to the masses and suddenly every single fan is getting it tattooed on themselves. Sometimes talk shows or news channels broadcast stories about people finding their intended.

Love sells, and true love sells even more.

However, despite the media being saturated with such things, it's still a shock to children when it finally happens to them. A boy in Tsuna's class bursts into tears one day because when his Soul Mark fades into existence on his foot, it spells out, God, what a loser. Another girl crawls under a desk and wails about how her wrist has a "Gross, purple crocodile!" on it.

In Tsuna's case, it's a lot more anticlimactic. His Mark is in another language and it takes a while for him to find out what it actually means in Japanese. It makes him pause for a moment, but Tsuna decides that even though his word implies some pretty bad things about his intended, he doesn't care. Tsuna will get to know her first and then make decisions.

After all, the Mark is a guideline. It's initially vague and difficult to interpret in most cases.

As he grows past that wide-eyed, optimistic phase, the teachers start to prepare the children for the worst. They give simplified statistics to the class of five-year-olds, about how likely it is that people guess right.

They warn them that only around thirteen percent of the world's population, the ones who try the hardest, get their Soul Mates. They make sure to emphasise how you don't need a Soul Mate to live happily.

Tsuna's dreams come crashing down.

At home he traces the belt of words that sit low on his hips, just below the edge of his pants, and contemplates if he's lucky enough to be in that thirteen percent.

It's a resounding no.

He eyes the word, repeating in different handwriting (something that's always confused him) and resigns himself to not caring. Unfortunately, thoughts don't work that way. So instead of moving on, his mind picks apart any meaning that can spawn from the word Mafia.

* * *

Kyoko is someone Tsuna has always hoped was his Soul Mate as soon as he saw her. Her smile is beautiful, not only because she's cute, but also the fact that it lights up the room with her earnest joy, and just being around her makes Tsuna happy.

So one day he finally gathers up enough courage to ask her what she thinks about the Mafia. Unfortunately, she has no idea what he's talking about. But Tsuna persists and snatches up a pencil, writing it in his neatest handwriting on the corner of a page. Also unfortunately, he writes it in Italian instead of Katakana.

She says she likes how the word looks, unknowing of what it means, and Tsuna falls hard.

From then on, despite not confronting her again, Tsuna is adamant Kyoko is his Soul Mate. It makes sense to him; she likes the word, and his Mark has different handwriting, so she must like how it looks in different forms instead of actually being interested in what the word 'Mafia' represents.

Tsuna is content, because any other problem or hardship they encounter can be sorted out together.

He neglects to find out what her Mark is.

* * *

In fact, Tsuna is so certain Kyoko is his intended, that when an insane baby arrives, he completely ignores any signs that his theory could be wrong. This continues for a very, very long time despite hard evidence to the contrary.


	2. Takeshi

Title: Repeat (Takeshi's Story)

Summary: Tsuna's Soul Mark spells out a word again and again, wrapping his hips like a belt. Takeshi knows this for a fact.

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* * *

Takeshi subtly sneaks up on his sleeping classmate and prepares to strip him.

Okay, so maybe he's being a bit creepy right now, but the baseball star has his reasons.

It started when a boy in his gym class fell over. They were running laps and Takeshi just so happened to be behind the kid after overlapping the poor brunet, and because of Takeshi's momentum he couldn't stop in time to not fall onto the other boy.

He remembered right before he squished the boy; that his name was Tsuna, and Takeshi had heard a rumour that his Soul Mark was somewhere on his hip. It was completely by accident that Takeshi's hand grabbed onto the brunet's shorts and maybe tugged them down just a little. Just enough to see a couple of words running across his lower back and disappearing around his hips.

Of course Takeshi apologised and laughed it off as an accident – which it totally was! – and continued on with his laps.

If he was curious as to why there were so many words, or why said words looked like they were repeating, then that was his problem. If he was just a bit interested as to why an English (French?) word was on the boy, that wasn't weird at all. If he then went home and wrote out the word a couple dozen times, that wasn't weird either.

However, it was a bit of a concern that one of the words he saw on the boy copied Takeshi's handwriting perfectly. The baseballer tried to forget, because it was just a coincidence. Thousands of others must have the same handwriting, and when he searched for it, it turned out to be a pretty strange (Italian) word for someone like Tsuna to carry around. Nothing to do with him at all.

So what if Takeshi's own Soul Mark spelt out 'gravity-defying' on the left side of his torso? It could mean an astronaut instead of hair. Although really, that brunet hair is ridiculous. And soft. And so, so fluffy…

It was only right to check, and thus Takeshi was on a mission. He was going to get another look at the boy's Mark and determine for sure if that was his handwriting. Because if it was, that meant this boy was a potential Soul Mate, and that Takeshi should keep a better eye on him (until he ascertained if it was 110% real, because then he would tell Tsuna and they would live happily ever after).

Just to reiterate though; Takeshi has his reasons, so it isn't weird that he may or may not have drugged his classmate's lunch with sleeping pills so he could pull down the boy's pants.

Not creepy at all.

Honest.

Takeshi shakes away the guilty feeling and snags the waist band of Tsuna's pants, tugging lightly. He has to be careful or the brunet will wake up. He didn't want to overdose the poor kid but he also didn't want to ask his dad how much he should use, so Takeshi crushed the pills according to the instructions on the back of the bottle and added just a bit more to be on the safe side.

Takeshi bites back a curse when the belt holds strong. He contemplates the best method and carefully lifts his classmate out of the chair and lies Tsuna on the floor.

Takeshi checks that the door is locked one more time before he reaches for the thin, black belt and slides one side free of the buckle. He then tugs on the pants lightly until the black lines are visible against pale skin. Takeshi's eyes trace the words just under a flat abdomen and curving around soft –he had to touch Tsuna to turn him over, honest- hips.

He pokes Tsuna's side and his finger doesn't meet a lot of resistance. Takeshi pokes his own side and feels hard muscle. Tsuna is really soft, comparably, not that it's a bad thing.

Then the brunet grumbles and Takeshi screams inwardly as his body freezes in terror. Instead of waking, arms reach up to pillow a head and Takeshi lets out an inaudible sigh as Tsuna just shifts into a more comfortable position on the floor.

When the boy settles again, Takeshi reaches into his pocket and slips out a piece of paper that he holds to the Soul Mark for comparison. Yep, there it is. Identical handwriting spelling the word Mafia.

Takeshi's fingers wander under his own shirt to find his soul mark. On the left of his torso, just a few ribs down his side, is his Mark spelling out Tsuna's descriptor. Despite not having any raised edges or noticeable difference from his skin, he knows exactly where it is.

Well then. Now Takeshi just has to figure out how he's related to the mafia. Maybe he'll ask his dad.

But first, to get Tsuna back into the seat.

* * *

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A/N: Takeshi would totally do something like this. Y'know, the whole 'natural born hitman' thing the manga mentions. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.


	3. Kyouya

Title: Repeat (Kyoya's Story)

Summary: Kyoya's Soul Mark implied his intended was a raging wildfire. Therefore, the...fluffy herbivore's Mark is just a coincidence.

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* * *

If there was one thing that enraged him like nothing else, it was the abuse of small animals. No, mother, not because he thinks their cute. It's because they are genetically made to be weaker - to be sacrificed to stronger, more vicious predators. So when someone starts making their life even harder than it has to be, that gets his blood boiling.

However, he is a carnivore and he doesn't protect, he rules. So when old ladies whisper to each other that "He's off on another patrol, protecting Namimori", he ends up hitting herbivores harder due to his annoyance than he would have originally, because to kill an old herbivore would be a waste of his time (they're going to die soon anyway).

It's his territory, and his to rule over, so obviously he would discipline its inhabitants. Not protect. Never protect.

If you protect, bad things happen. The delusional herbivores attack the weakness you're protecting, or the one you protect becomes content and doesn't try to better itself. Or, just maybe, you're so focused on protecting that it affects you in the worst way - you make excuses for the herbivores behaviour, all behaviour.

No, Kyoya doesn't protect. Protecting weakens the mind and kills instinct. From that thought process, it's obvious that Kyoya doesn't protect small animals. Instead, he just maims anything that so much as twitches in the wrong direction (including the small animals because prey shouldn't be singled out) so they all fall in line. He uses pain as a physical and emotional deterrence. So when the more serious crimes occur, Kyoya has to wonder just how stupid an herbivore has to be to disregard Kyoya's rules.

For instance, when Kyoya made his rounds at the primary school to usher out the slackers and search for those few students that get left behind by parents, he encounters a rather strange scene in one of the rooms. Through the small, square window of the door he can just barely see two students inside. One of them rests on a desk and the other stands beside him. Kyoya spies the bottle half sticking out of the black haired one's pocket, the questionable expression, and the fluffy, sleeping boy.

He then promptly kicks in the door.

The herbivore jolts in shock and falls into a sloppy defensive stance that makes Kyoya think he'll fight back. He snaps out his regular "I'll bite you to death" warning (because he's a benevolent ruler) and charges, the herbivore regaining his wits right as a tonfa comes down on a shoulder. He dodges badly though and the metal connects soundly with flesh, throwing the boy to the floor. The herbivore grits his teeth against the pain, scoops up his bag with his unhurt arm and, narrowly missing the thrown tonfa that embeds itself into the wall, he throws himself out of the first story window.

Kyoya doesn't bother to give chase – he wasn't going to go out of his way to be a hypocrite (that was another story entirely). If the herbivore was trying to kill the other one, he failed badly. That particular brand gave the target a headache at the most. Besides, it's a very curious crime, especially for an eleven year old.

He turns to the remaining herbivore and wonders what he did to get an attempt on his life. Kyoya blinks in confusion when he sees the boy's shirt pulled up slightly and black lines just poking out of cover at the base of his spine. Kyoya scoffs at the realisation that it wasn't an assassination, the other herbivore just wanted to see this one's Soul Mark. He thinks that it was rather elaborate for such a stupid goal and then his curiosity gets the better of him.

Kyoya grabs onto the back of the collar and pushes him further against the desk, the boy's body stretching such a way that Kyoya can see that the thin ribbon of black encircles his body. He mouths the words in confusion, knowing exactly what it means but confused as to why it repeats. He blinks in shock at one of the renditions and rolls the boy slightly until he gets full access to the brunet's left hip. He traces the word in his own handwriting and wonders.

In the end, though, Kyoya is a realist and he leaves the boy to sleep it off, heading home.

He had never been more than mildly curious toward Soul Marks and what they represent. In his mind it was as normal as existing and just as pointless to think about. If it happened, it happened. If it didn't, it didn't. There was no point contesting it, because he would settle for nothing less than a carnivore. If Kyoya found his Soul Mate and they weren't worth it, then he would simply dismiss them.

He didn't need nor want a happily ever after, he wanted a challenge.

* * *

Regrettably, he doesn't forget about the fluffy one, even weeks after.

It's poisoned his mind. Even worse, he tries to compare the herbivore to his own Soul Mark. The thoughts build and no matter how he tries to rationalise why it would be bad to have an herbivore, as soon as he steps into his house later that same week, his body moves autonomously to stand in front of his bedroom mirror.

His hands pull off his shirt and he turns just enough to see his right shoulder blade. A small, white bunny is outlined in black at the base of the picture. Its black shadow twists and stretches, rising up and shifting into a vortex of liquid gold and honey. The shadow keeps spreading, covering his entire shoulder blade and then some, forming the picture of a raging fire. Embers flicker outwards and smoke curls up, ghosting along the side of his neck.

Kyouya doesn't protect, so he'll just have to be patient until his intended turns into an inferno.

* * *

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A/N: When he mentions he would be a hypocrite if he chased down Takeshi for trying to assassinate someone, he means that he used to try and kill Fon whenever he came over (also how he knows what the pills do).

In my head it's like: Little Hibari is offering tea to an adult Fon, but when Fon asks what flavour it is, Hibari just says 'the flavour of your death' in a deadpan voice and Fon finds tapeworm larvae in the drink or something.

His parents encourage this whole-heartedly.


	4. Reborn

Title: Repeat (Reborn's Story)

Summary: Reborn doesn't buy into that Soul Mate rubbish. Really.

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* * *

"Catch me if you can, Re-baka!" Tsuna calls over his shoulder, keeping the fedora firmly on his head by gripping the sides. The hitman blinks once, slowly, and blurs with how fast he moves.

* * *

"…aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHH!"

Takeshi blinks at the sound, turning his head in time to catch a blur of colour sprint past the door, followed soon after by another blur, of black this time.

"Doppler effect, huh?" Hayato muses, not looking up from a contract. He spins a pen in his hand, straining his ears to find the faint screaming. "What a set of lungs. I bet even Ryohei would lose."

Said boxer let out a rumbling snore from the couch off to the side, his hand twitching from where it was set in a bowl of warm water.

"So I _should_ tell you that was Tsuna?" Takeshi laughs.

Hayato's stunned expression flickered to one of rage as he stood up, slammed down the papers he was holding and strode to the door, planting his feet in the middle of the hallway.

Lambo pulled out his phone and immediately started recording. They heard the faint scream getting louder and Hayato braced himself to throw the second runner to the floor. However, instead of running by, Tsuna threw his body to the right, only just avoiding hitting the door frame. His chaser wasn't so lucky, the momentum making him unable to turn quick enough, so his shoulder slammed into the wood and dented it. Splinters and larger pieces of wood and paint shot off, Hayato recoiling with his arms raised to protect his eyes.

Tsuna scrambled to his feet and hid behind Takeshi as Reborn calmly brushed off his forceful encounter with a wall. Takeshi wasn't able to even flinch before he was backhanded away. Tsuna playfully screamed again, a large smile on his face as he tried to duck past Reborn. He feinted left, right and left again before flipping over Reborn's head. Laughter bubbled up as he took a running step forwards, ready to burst back out into the hallway.

Never turn your back on an opponent. Especially if its Reborn.

Arms wrapped around his waist from behind, lifting him off the floor and dropping him on his head. Tsuna choked as the breath was forced out of him. He lay there, dazed as Reborn reached down and snatched up his hat.

"Either get a hundred years more experience or an army." Reborn scoffed, brushing off his hat and plopping it back on his head.

Tsuna let out a wheezing laugh, still trying to suck in air. Reborn's eyes wandered down to the strip of skin showing. Tsuna's shirt had been pushed up when he was thrown down and his pants had fallen slightly in the sprint.

 _Mafia_

* * *

Reborn wasn't one for fairy tales, even at a young age. Even the first time he heard of Soul Mates he didn't think it was real. It was just like every other 'con' in history; the gullible got sucked in and spat back out with a 'new' perspective, handfed by the con-artist. They deliberately search for meanings, twisting it to fit.

In this case, everyone is fooled, not just the audience. People who bought into such a thing as Soul Mates are ignorant, being deliberately mislead by other ignorant people. It was a horrible cycle of stupidity.

The myth is perpetuated by people desperate to have meaning behind their actions. Desperate for something more that 'we did it because we can'. Desperate to know they won't die alone.

The children can't help it, they're just starting out in the world. They haven't learned that humans are disgusting, moronic things, and that they lie and make mistakes. They take every word to heart, especially from their teachers. So what does the government do? Have specialised lessons on Soul Marks like it some sexual education knock-off.

Where is the science behind it - the hard evidence that proves anything connects at all? No, people ignore that gap. Scientists will tell you about the biology, all about the pigments in the skin, how children develop the Marks. Then enthusiastic morons turn around and claim its some tarot card bullshit, making 'signs' up as they go along.

Soul Marks aren't just vague, they're the highest order of making shit up. People who consider themselves 'the lucky ones' see their Marks through a Fisheye lens, distorting and twisting to their benefits. How concrete is a picture? How about a descriptor? How many people share the same similarities in this world?

For example, Lal has the Mark on the back of her neck. It had the words 'Survive if you want to live'*. If he wasn't so sure it was a Mark, he'd almost think she picked the stupidest words possible to get a tattoo of. It was like her to spout such a ridiculous sentence so either it indicates she was the one to say it, or her 'intended' is just as stupid and they're perfect for each other.

Soul Mate option 1

If the term survived indicated a state of drifting and unfulfilled lifestyle, then Fon has only 'survived' in the mafia. He has never seen the world apart from when he was sent out on missions. That man would rather spend time with family, bogged down by his sentiment. The only reason he travels at all is for the mafia or family, therefore he doesn't act on his own wants, and therefore he is only surviving. Lately, since the breaking of the Arcobaleno curse, he's been travelling and submersing himself in different cultures –therefore, living.

Soul Mate option 2

Colonello has been there for Lal ever since his enrolment in COMSUBIN, even more so when the curse struck and threw their lives into disarray. He tried to take the curse for her, and she knows that he will always be loyal. That just the idiot's personality. They spend so much time together training recruits that Reborn wouldn't be surprised if Colonello blurted out such a cheesy line when she got into one of her existential moods.

Soul Mate option 3

Skull has survived in the sense that he's not dead yet. Congratulations for him because that also automatically means he's a living, breathing human being.

If he bothered, Reborn could find a way to link her with every person he knew - he was always very good at twisting words.

Soul Marks rely entirely on how gullible people are. They are so broad that they fit every situation, every personality, and every time frame. All it take is a tilt of the head and an imagination. This isn't science, this is a way to reassure people that their all special snowflakes and some out there is forced by fate to give a shit.

You come into this world alone, you live alone and you die alone. He has no idea why that's supposed to be a bad thing. To be autonomous –to have a will of your own- you need to be a separate entity. Yes, you can share experiences, but you are alone. That doesn't mean you're lonely.

Reborn was, is and forever shall be a realist. His Mark, at the top of his right thigh, was a sentence written in jagged red lines, appearing as scars at first glance. The Mark that will forever remain on his skin spells out 'Dying will is both a state of being and a promise'. That meant nothing he didn't want it mean, because once again it was so broad and all encompassing. Was Reborn saying it? Was it a descriptor? Was it a picture, something he sees?

Reborn wasn't one for fairy tales, even before the mafia. He wasn't going to get pulled down by this.

So why -especially after seeing his handwriting printed on pale skin- did it seem so tempting to accidentally reveal his Mark to his student?

* * *

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A/N: *and that's a direct quote.


	5. Enma

Title: Repeat (Enma's Story)

Summary: Enma wasn't an aggressive sort of person, honest. It's just that when Tsuna's in trouble, the line kind of blurs - and no, it's not because Tsuna is marked by Enma's handwriting, why would you say that Adelheid?

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* * *

Tsuna drew in a ragged gasp, throat burning with the sharp inhale, and ducked the man's punch only to flick out his knife and slide the blade across the back of the man's foot, who didn't even flinch from the pain.

Tsuna's momentum carried him past and his muscles cursed him for the sprint down the hallway. Behind, the man twisted to take off after Tsuna but immediately collapsed when pressure was put on his ankle.

"Don't play coy, Decimo," came a sickly sweet voice from the hallway speakers. "Come and greet me properly or I might just take out my frustrations on little Ryohei."

"That's not very extreme, Fat Man!" cried Ryohei, sounding faint over the speakers.

"It's Fhatamann, you imbecile!"

The speakers cut out with a static snap.

Tsuna couldn't suppress a breathless giggle. He took the next corner at a slower pace, stumbling to a halt and bracing himself against the wall to simply breathe. The people he'd encountered were far from Hibari's level (but wasn't everyone?) yet their ridiculous numbers were a challenge.

Adding the layout of the base which had maze like tunnels between actual buildings that stretched for kilometres and the computerised defences, that mainly consisted of locking down the room Tsuna was in and liberal use of flamethrowers and/or machine guns, he was having a bit of trouble keeping on top of things.

"Is that slacking I see?" queried a dangerous voice into Tsuna's ear.

The poor man jolted and automatically whipped his head around but remembered the ear piece.

"H-hello Reborn, lovely weather we're having." A nervous laugh followed as Tsuna tried to find the cameras.

"It's raining."

"It is?" Tsuna wondered. When he entered the tunnels it was sunny.

"That was hours ago, Dame-Tsuna."

A ragged sigh left the brunet but he straightened off the wall, breathing calm once more and took off at a steady jog. His body was going to hate him tomorrow.

"Well maybe if someone gave me a map, and if someone didn't just drop me out of a plane and alert everyone, I would have gotten Ryohei back by now," Tsuna said airily.

He heard a shout and caught sight of a five person group who all looked like body builders coming at him from a side tunnel. He sped up in time to avoid a hail of bullets, ducking into another tunnel further down and waiting.

"Is that an accusatory tone? Are you accusing me?" Reborn said with an underlying threat.

"Yes," Tsuna stated simply.

The first woman passed the entrance then and got an elbow to the throat. The following man was tripped and their head stomped on. After that they wizened up and retreated, waiting until Tsuna emerged. An explosion rocked the tunnel and debris rained from the ceiling. Tsuna took his chance and darted out, striking at the remaining three in their distraction. The last body crumpled and Tsuna frowned.

"Reborn... what was that?"

"I threw you out of a plane and didn't give you a map. What part of this isn't clear?" Reborn's voice was belligerent and mocking.

"If I'm the distraction then why did it take hours for the real force to show up?" Tsuna complained. He skidded to a halt at a fork in the road and peered down the tunnels.

"I lied, you're actually making pretty good time through the maze."

Tsuna took a step forward.

"No, Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna rocked back on his heels. When no more instruction came he leaned slightly left...

"Bad Decimo. No."

"Well then just tell me!" Tsuna blurted out in annoyance.

"Where's the fun in that?" Reborn all but purred.

Tsuna's reply is overshadowed by the loud cracking the walls of the tunnel were making. The brunet cocked his head at the faint cry he hears, progressively getting louder as the walls come apart in chunks, almost as if something was pressing against them...

"Tsuna!" Enma cried out as he burst out of a wall and crash tackled Tsuna to the floor.

Tsuna squeaked in alarm at the impact but laughed off Enma's worry. "Did you get conscripted too?"

"Not exactly," Enma said as he shook his head. "Adelheid told me you were last seen dropped out of a helicopter and I was worried."

"Oh, well you'd be the only one," Tsuna muttered rather cynically. "Ugh, could you get off?"

Enma seemed to only just notice he was still sprawled over Tsuna and scrambled up with a brilliantly red face. "L-lets go yeah?" he stuttered out and took off before Tsuna could reply.

"Do you know where you're going?" Tsuna asked once he had caught up.

"Uh..." Enma came to an abrupt halt, and Tsuna flew past before he could stop. Enma grabbed the map from his pocket and grimaced. He had taken the wrong turn. "Maybe you should keep it."

Tsuna took the map and quickly picked out the route, tucking it away when he had memorised it. He grinned at Enma and took off. "Try and keep up!" he calls back in laughter.

It somehow turned in to a game of tag and time flew by on the way to the main compound. They entered, breathless and still giggling, to find Ryohei had been hung from the ceiling with a heavy duty chain. There was chain around his ankles as well, anchored to the floor so he couldn't kick out. He was also surrounded by what seemed like hundreds of women and men with various weaponry and blood thirsty grins.

"Tsuna! This man is very extreme!" Ryohei roared loudly, and wriggled about wildly like fish on hook. He seemed to be having fun.

Tsuna is glad, because while it wasn't exactly rare that some of his friends are kidnapped to call him out, he didn't like it when they got hurt.

"Decimo," The boss sneered. "How nice of you to arrive. Finally."

"Hey, I didn't get a map," Tsuna protested. "Cut me some slack. And besides, I thought I was the distraction."

Laughter came through the ear piece. Tsuna scowled and pulled it out. He debated on whether to crush it dramatically under his shoe but tucked it into his pocket instead.

The boss huffed at how easy going Tsuna was being, surrounded as he was by enemies, one ally tied up as leverage and only one other.

The reason that Tsuna wasn't worried was quite simple. It was a known fact that the Vongola Decimo was strong. Of course he was. He had been raised by the World's Greatest Hitman, used the Varia as a stepping stone and defeated key players of the Vendice.

He was completely, one hundred percent certain, that he would win this - that there was no future in which he lost in a fight to these people. That part wasn't arrogance, it was fact. Unfortunately, that got to his head sometimes - relaxed his body when it should be tensing.

So when the axe came hurtling towards him, he barely flinched, because Squalo's sword was much more intimidating.

* * *

A cry of "Extreme!" denoted Ryohei's position on the other end of the cavern as Enma shoved the mass of people into the wall and then through it. He kind of felt like a bad guy; this was way too unequal.

"Enma, they've sealed my flame!" Tsuna called out.

Well that went his good mood.

"Wha-what?" Enma cried in shock. "They can do that?"

His head snapped to Tsuna, only to see the brunet trapped. There was four women who had formed a barrier around the Vongola boss, their wires criss-crossed the space and dug into Tsuna, slicing through him easily enough that they had to be coated with flame.

"Oh shi- what, are you Bel's long lost cousins?" Tsuna grimaced, unable to move without getting cut, and even then the wires were tight around him.

Enma winced at the cuts that were forming along Tsuna's body and hated the sight of the blood that seeped out of the wounds. He kicked off the floor but before he could fly over, he suddenly dropped. They must have caught him with whatever had rained Tsuna's flames.

He managed to land on his feet, and immediately started looking for the cause but nothing stood out. He cursed the next wave of opponents and struggled over to Tsuna.

"Ugh, I take it back. Are you related to Reborn instead?"

Enma heard Tsuna's voice but couldn't see the brunet over the wall of people in between them. He pushed through in time so that he saw the four women pull.

Tsuna stifled a scream as the wires ripped into him.

"That's not extreme at all!" Ryohei roared, and punched one of the wire masters in the face.

Tsuna fell sideways from the other three pulling. They stumbled as well, the resistance suddenly gone. Enma grabbed the closest person and threw him at another while Ryohei moved on to the rest. It took seconds for Tsuna to be freed but it was far too long for Enma.

"Tsuna, are you okay?" Enma gasped and dropped to his knees at Tsuna's side.

"A bit sore," Tsuna laughed weakly. "Let's not do that again." The brunet didn't move from where he was splayed on the ground.

Enma's eyes traced the torn shirt, rather amazed it was still on, the clothing having been torn to ribbons and soaked in blood. Lettering caught his eye and he unconsciously leaned in closer, despite knowing that a Soul Mark was a very private thing.

 _Mafia_

Ever since he first saw it as a teen, Enma couldn't help but compare Tsuna to his own Mark. The Vongola crest sitting in between his shoulders seemed to itch.

"That's a very extreme Soul Mark, Tsuna!" Ryohei admired as he leaned over the two bosses and got a better look.

Enma spluttered and reached out his hands to shield Tsuna's Mark from the boxer, even as he looked around to see where all of the enemies have gone. A flare of blue and red lit up one corner as a wave of water carried dynamite along in a path of destruction.

"Ah, Takeshi and Hayato are here-" Enma started but is cut off.

"Hey, that's my handwriting," Ryohei said, brows fusing as he stared down at the loop of words. His eyes lit up then and he dropped to a knee. "Tsuna! Please marry me! Your eyes match my Mark perfectly; my sun is the exact same shade."

Enma choked on an inhale and turned away to cough up a lung.

Tsuna laughed. "Thank you, but no. I already know who my Soul Mate is." Tsuna patted Ryohei on the arm when the man pouted in disappointment. He turned to Enma, but the man was already gone.


	6. Mukuro and Byakuran

Title: Repeat (Mukuro's and Byakuran's Story)

Summary: Tsuna was adamant that Kyoko was his Soul Mate. Mukuro and Byakuran have other ideas.

.

* * *

"I'm just saying," Byakuran begins, leaning back into the ridiculously comfortable couch in the Decimo's office, and holding out his hands to show he has no tricks up his sleeve. "My Soul Mark is the number one hundred and twenty-seven."

Tsuna rolls his eyes and tries to focus back on the documents, while off to the side Mukuro scoffs loudly from where he is perched on the table's edge.

"And universe one hundred and twenty-seven has a Tsuna and Byakuran happily married," the Gesso boss continues in a suggestive tone.

Mukuro and Tsuna both raise an eyebrow at Byakuran.

"I'll admit that he was reaching a bit too far," Mukuro says, turning to Tsuna. "But on the other hand, I have your _town's name_ as my Soul Mark. That's a lot harder to dispute."

"And where is your Soul Mark?" Tsuna responds in a bored voice, adding a flame seal on the top of the contract and sliding it into the 'out' tray.

Mukuro laughs nervously. "On my eye. Before they … before I got the transplant."

Tsuna holds back on the urge to hug his mist Guardian, because the man would take it as invitation to start groping, but he can't quite manage to stop his ring from lighting up in sky flames.

He quickly shoves his hand under the table but both of the men see it. Tsuna takes a deep breath and forces the flames away before he places his hand on the table again.

"Can we do this another time?" Tsuna offers, faking casualness because Mukuro doesn't like to make a big deal out of Estraneo things – especially since they're already dead. "I really do have to finish this."

Byakuran hesitates for a brief second but powers ahead. "Your Mark isn't the strangest I've seen…"

Mukuro catches on and raises an eyebrow at Byakuran, but the man doesn't even seem to notice. The mist wonders if the white haired man has truly given up on having Tsuna to himself.

"In fact it's quite basic compared to some others," Byakuran continues. "It's rather odd though, how it repeats."

Mukuro joins in, figuring that he would want to at least get Tsuna in some measure than the brunet continuing to be oblivious. "And isn't it too much of a coincidence that the handwriting matches those close to you?"

"I-" Byakuran darts a glance to Mukuro. " _We_ know that Marks are vague at best, and the chances of finding each other are like… what, twenty percent?"

"Twelve point nine six," Mukuro pitches in quietly.

Neither Tsuna or Byakuran make mention of the fact that Mukuro knows the exact statistics. From the way the mist sounded when he said it, Tsuna gets the feeling Mukuro could have continued listing numbers for a very long time.

"Twelve point nine six percent," Byakuran accepts immediately. "And even less people than that actually have the privilege of knowing that the person is their Soul Mate." Byakuran gestures around the room helplessly. "Don't you think you should at least try to see it our way?"

"Don't you guys have better things to do than mess with my head?" Tsuna protests.

"We're not messing with you, Tsunayoshi-kun," Byakuran sighs.

"Then why are you actually working _together_ to convince me that _both_ of you are my Soul Mates?" Tsuna contests. "That doesn't happen in real life."

"Actually, people have had multiple Soul Mates-" Mukuro starts.

"No, I meant you two working as a team," Tsuna clarifies. " _That_ doesn't happen in real life."

Byakuran runs a hand through his hair, fluffing it up. "Have you truly thought about your Soul Mate?"

Tsuna pauses for a second in shuffling around papers and blushes.

Byakuran and Mukuro suck in dramatic gasps.

"Don't tell me that Arcobaleno got to you," Mukuro complains.

"Was it that dynamite chewing puppy?" Byakuran grumbles.

"I..." Tsuna trails off, not knowing what to say. He could tell them, but these two would likely hold it over his head as blackmail. Besides, he's never even told her yet and it should be her decision as well.

"Come on, Tsunayoshi," Mukuro coaxes. "Give us a reason to stop."

Tsuna sits back in his chair and takes a deep breath, beginning from the start.

* * *

They burst into laughter but it dies a quick death when they realise he's being serious.

"Wait, you're not joking?" Mukuro blurts out. "'She liked the way it looked'," Mukuro repeats mockingly. "'So obviously she just likes calligraphy'."

"Do you hear yourself when you talk?" Byakuran asks. "It sounds like something a six year old would come up with."

"I was seven, thank you very much," Tsuna snaps, hunching his shoulders defensively.

Mukuro turns to Byakuran to see if the Gesso boss had any idea on how to convince Tsuna. The white haired man shrugs in hopelessness. Neither of these men dealt with stubbornness well. Mukuro would usually convince someone by way of illusions and Byakuran would threaten them with marshmallows.

"We need back up," Byakuran admits.

" _I'll stay with Tsunayoshi_."

They blink at each other, having said the exact same thing. Tsuna rolls his eyes and concentrates back on the annoying files that clutter his desk.

"Look, my Mark is far more definitive than yours," Mukuro snaps, standing from the table and stepping toward Byakuran.

"What Mark was that again?" Byakuran calls out mockingly, also rising from his couch. "You mean the one you don't have anymore? That one?"

"Kufufufu. Yours can be taken away just as easily, Dandelion."

"Bring it, you dyed pineapple."

"It's not dyed."

"Can one of you take this to Kyouya?" Tsuna pipes up, holding up a folder. They turn to him and the Decimo gives them a small pout. "Pretty please?"

Byakuran lunges forward at the same time Mukuro does.

"Thank you, Byakuran," Tsuna smiles up at the Gesso boss sweetly.

Byakuran grins widely and struts past a glaring and scowling Mukuro on his way out.

"That was mean, Mukuro."

Mukuro's expression does a complete turn as he faces Tsuna, a smirk settling on his features as the mist construct dissolves and the real Tsuna appears, leaning back in his chair with his arm crossed.

"Well I needed him out of way." Mukuro shrugs easily. Then he goes and lifts Tsuna out of his chair, sitting the brunet on the table instead.

"Seriously?" Tsuna sighs. "You guys need to stop being so touchy feely, people get the wrong idea."

Mukuro, standing in between Tsuna's knees as he yanks down the man's pants a little so he can untuck Tsuna's shirt and push it up, says absolutely nothing.

"Pass the pen," he mutters, pushing on Tsuna's shoulder so the man lies down across the table.

Tsuna is rather annoyed at the command and blatant disregard of personal space, but he knows that if Mukuro gets what he wants it'll be quicker than resisting and Tsuna can get back to work. He pats the table by his side for the pen he was using before and hands it to Mukuro.

The mist then scrawls the word 'Mafia' above the one already there, right in the middle of Tsuna's hips.

"There, see?" Mukuro says smugly.

"Mukuro," Tsuna begins, not even bothering to lift his head. "Out of anyone who can forge handwriting perfectly, I would expect you to be in the top three."

"What? No, I'm actually surprisingly bad at that." Mukuro bends over again and scribbles down the word once again, off to the side this time in attempt to copy one of the other handwriting styles.

Tsuna lifts his head to see and then drops it back down to the table. "You didn't even try that time," he accuses.

Mukuro hums. "Yeah, you're right. Let me do it again." He licks his thumb and starts rubbing out the pen marks.

"Are you rubbing your spit on me?" Tsuna squawks, jerking up halfway into a sitting position before Mukuro shoves him down again.

Mukuro's reply is to write the word 'Mafia' again.

"This is why Chrome runs the mist department," Tsuna proclaims.

"You liar!" Byakuran snaps as he stalks in. He freezes there at the sight of Tsuna laid out on the desk and Mukuro leaning over, face far too close to the Decimo's... pants zipper.

* * *

"You don't expect it of Byakuran," Tsuna admits.

An explosion shudders the walls despite how ridiculously reinforced they were.

"He seems calm, not easy to anger," Tsuna continues.

Twin dragons of sky flame rush past the window, chasing after a pure white owl with purple eyes.

"No reply, Reborn?" Tsuna says wryly.

The hitman stops picking invisible lint off his hat and raises his head slowly to pin Tsuna with a deadly stare.

"Yeah," Tsuna agrees to an imagined comment, nodding casually. "The mafia is so troublesome. It saps out common sense."

Reborn blinks, face blanking.

"This is why I'm glad Kyoko is my Soul Mate." Tsuna can't help but smile then. Actually saying it out loud was rather freeing. It left butterflies in his stomach and tasted sweet on his tongue.

Reborn says nothing but his grip tightens on the rim of his fedora, crumpling the edge a bit.

"I think…" Tsuna trails off, unsure, but the feeling comes back again at the thought of Kyoko actually being happy and his courage hits maximum. "I'll tell her, tomorrow," Tsuna sounds out and when those words make his heart beat faster he beams. "Yeah, I'll tell Kyoko I'm her Soul Mate tomorrow."

* * *

.

A/N: Shit is about to go down.

So how was this one, folks? Love it, hate it, want to have babies with it?

Anyway, you can still suggest Soul Mates (and Soul Marks – strangely enough, no one has tried).


	7. Verde and Hayato

Title: Repeat (Verde's and Hayato's Story)

Summary: Verde isn't a kind man, but he's plenty willing to pretend for a chance at experimenting on the Decimo. Hayato knows - has for a long time now. That doesn't change anything.

.

* * *

Verde was a scientist.

That's all you have to really know to get his stance on Soul Mates.

However, if you wanted a clear picture, you would also have to know that his parents were incredibly superstitious. That meant that Verde grew up on stories of Soul Mates and happily ever after and dreams of pure, illogical love.

The combination was a volatile one.

In one hand, he had the common sense to disregard any leaps in logic the mundane morons vomit out.

In the other, he had the common sense to disregard any leaps in logic the mundane morons vomit out. And then he replaces their pathetic guesses with factual steps.

So, Verde was a scientist. He's tested his mark against a wide variety of people and while all the results were varied, he's never found a hundred percent match.

 _Dying will means I promise you my dying breath, but I swear that you'll never see it_

Verde could almost instantly cut out any civilians from the potential list because of that 'dying will' part. Then there went the enemies and the acquaintances, because anyone who promised their 'dying breath' to you didn't do so lightly – certainly not in the mafia. 'But I swear that you'll never see it' spoke of a kind person, which threw him off course for a bit because Verde didn't associate with kind people.

Then the Decimo started sending him cookies.

What the fuck, Tsunayoshi Sawada?

Verde immediately dumped them down the incinerator. The next present got the same treatment, as did the few after.

Then Verde, stumbling and half blind from working for a week straight on his cure for the Arcobaleno slow aging, accidentally took a bite. When he woke up in the morning, there were no cookies left and Verde couldn't get the delicious taste out of his mind.

He ate the next batch as well, after scanning it for contaminants of course. This continued for a while, the treats spreading out in variety and then narrowing in on Verde's favourites – god damn hyper intuition. It's more than a few months later, after Verde sent the completed cure out to the others, that the Decimo himself arrived with the next box of treats.

The then twenty three year old started off with polite conversation and asked if Verde was well, how his experiments were going.

Verde snatched the box from Tsunayoshi and shooed him out with gun fire from the buildings defences.

The next few visits went much like the first. In between his research he wondered what the Decimo was planning. Maybe he wanted Verde to join the Vongola? There really wasn't any other reason.

The next visit consisted of Tsunayoshi freezing the entire room in ice to stop the security. Verde would have been mildly impressed if it didn't just fuck up his experiments.

Tsunayoshi flailed away from the needles Verde used as weapons and frantically explained that his ice actually froze everything, as if the item was encased in time – paused for however long Tsuna desired.

Verde stopped and Tsunayoshi tripped over a stool at the abrupt change.

That property was incredibly unbelievable. Sure, Verde had heard of the Cradle Affair and how Xanxus had been frozen, but the Varia leader hadn't been stunted in his growth – he grew naturally, and those scars didn't help Tsunayoshi's story either.

Verde pointed this out and Tsunayoshi offered a demonstration.

Well, if he insisted. Verde grinned.

The Decimo only left, weeks later, after his Guardians stormed the underground base.

Verde watched from the real base as the decoy was smashed open and the Guardians found a sleeping Tsunayoshi on the bed. Verde watched as they gently carried the man out and briefly wondered if he had been too severe on the brunet with all of the testing.

Then he looked down at the picture of the Soul Mark and shrugged off his concern. If Tsunayoshi truly was the scientist's Soul Mate, it was good to know that the man could handle whatever Verde threw at him.

Vongola wasn't so bad, he had thought back then. Maybe he should contemplate joining on a freelance basis, he had wondered.

His chance is here now, and even if Reborn is the one summoning him, Verde would get his hands on the Decimo and that agonisingly teasing Soul Mark.

* * *

 _The sky is not a limiting agent_

That's what Hayato's Mark says, typed out just over his heart. Every time he sees it he falls just a little bit more in love.

Hayato has always believed whole heartedly in Soul Mates. Who wouldn't want to? It was an impossibly amazing concept – that there was someone out there just for you, that someone wanted you.

Hayato believes, he really does, he just doesn't want to tell his Soul Mate.

It's so obvious what the others have been trying to do. Whether they try to stifle the urge or not they inevitably drop hints and suggestions to Juudaime, if not blatantly state their intentions.

It's sickening. It's not because they want to be happy that Hayato hates their actions, it because they're after Juudaime that he gets so annoyed.

On the scale of one to Juudaime, getting a Soul Mate doesn't even feature. Nothing does. So when they try to force their opinions down Juudaime's throat and have the gall to think that it was their right to do so, Hayato gets a little angry.

It's fine to think about it - Hayato sure does. Every day in fact. When he dresses in the morning, he always pauses before putting on a shirt. Always traces the words on his chest, right over his heart, and wonders.

Then he puts his shirt on and does his job as a right hand man.

Because his wants don't matter in the scale of things. A tsunami matters, a rival family kicking up a fuss matters – Hayato 'accidentally' ripping open his shirt in front of his Juudaime does not.

Oh, he'd love it if it truly did happen by accident and then Juudaime sees and he realises he loves Hayato and they get married and adopt hundreds of little babies together.

But that's so far out there, not even a UMA could reach it, because that entire fantasy blatantly disregards all the personality Juudaime actually has, and assumes that the Decimo would do exactly what Hayato wants him to do.

Hayato believes in Soul Mates, but he also believes that people have to work for happiness. It's not a right, it's a privilege.

So he's not going to force Juudaime to pay attention and half brainwash the man in order to get his love.

Unlike some people he could name.

Reborn can plot and scheme all he wants, but Hayato's loyalty is to his Juudaime, and not a bunch of desperate mutts pawing for a happiness they don't deserve.

* * *

.

A/N:

Whew, Hayato got away from me. He wasn't supposed to be that hateful, I promise.


	8. Fon and Xanxus

Title: Repeat (Fon and Xanxus)

Summary: They had less than a day to convince Tsuna of his multiple Soul Mates. It's going to be difficult.

Meanwhile: Xanxus is murdering hedges.

.

* * *

"Today?" Takeshi muses, tapping nervously on the handle of his sword.

Reborn nods and the room falls silent in contemplation. The situation had been laid out and now all that was left was a course of action. Reborn scans the adults standing and sitting around the room and hates that he needs them for fire power.

"No," Hayato states.

"No?" Enma says, his eyebrows coming together in confusion.

"Is there an echo in here?" Hayato snaps, making the Shimon boss hunch his shoulders and sink down in his seat.

"That wasn't very nice," Takeshi berates, leaning forwards across the table to get Hayato's attention.

"This entire plan isn't very _nice,_ " Hayato sneers. "You're forcing Juudaime to-"

"We're not forcing him into anything," Xanxus growls.

"Well, technically…" Verde begins but Hayato cuts over him.

"Then what exactly is this about?" the storm rages. "You assholes are forming a mob to ambush Juudaime with, and if you deny it then you're more delusional than I thought."

Chrome frowns lightly and Mukuro chuckles darkly as he says, "Shall I show you one of my delusions?"

Skull tenses even more at the argument starting up. On the other hand, Fon was smiling blankly – a sign that he was on the edge of irritated.

"You trash need to shut up."

"You herbivores need to shut up."

Kyouya and Xanxus lock onto each other at the simultaneous threats and their fingers creep towards their weapons.

"Then leave," Byakuran says dismissively to Hayato. "No one is keeping you here."

Hayato narrows his eyes and scans the room's occupants. "By 'no', I mean that I won't let you."

That gets their attention.

"You and what army?" Verde drawls.

"I won't need one."

* * *

Fon admits that maybe he could be trying harder to stop the destruction but he's mostly caught on the fact that Tsunayoshi will be trading a piece of his heart in less than an hour. They've spent too much time fighting.

He shouldn't have come - he wasn't planning to come today, but the monster in his chest wouldn't let him stay away.

A Soul Mate.

His Soul Mate.

The one called _Ground fire_

When Fon was younger he would have slaughtered his entire family for a chance of true peace with a partner.

A young Fon would _tear_ and _crush_ and _laugh_ at anyone foolish enough to stop him from reaching the kind of loyalty that Soul Mates held – the kind of loyalty only spoken of in quiet whispers by broken women and men with a fevered desperation in their eyes.

A young Fon would kick down the Decimo's door and _take_.

This Fon has given up.

He still wants - he wants so badly, but he's toxic. Fon wears red for a reason, after all. Nothing so gauche as 'because of the blood stains'. No, Fon wears bright red as a warning to others that he's poisonous.

Tsunayoshi shouldn't be dragged down by Fon.

He bunches the cloth of his long sleeves into his hands, the motion hidden behind his back, and surveys the broken room from his spot in the corner.

These people have wasted too much time already, but Fon can't make himself move. Perhaps that is a factor in their fighting as well – to stall.

* * *

Reborn watches and waits.

The room seems divided from the storm's passionate speech about being selfish and disgusting. Hayato, Takeshi, Enma, Dino and Chrome. Those weren't the names that came to mind when you thought 'ferocious', but they're holding themselves up against the rest with an admirable determination. If only Reborn can get them to be this focused when they actually fight opponents.

Unfortunately, they're getting in his way right now.

"Is Kyoko his Soul Mate?" Reborn asks no one in particular in a calm voice.

The room goes dead silent.

"When he tells her, will she have a corresponding Mark?" the hitman continues and sees the fear in their eyes.

They were scared at the thought of the woman having a matching Soul Mark, and they were scared at the thought of her not having it.

"If she doesn't, what happens to Tsuna?" Reborn finishes, speaking their fears for them.

Hayato's shoulders slump.

"We present the evidence to Tsunayoshi, and then he decides. We won't pressure him at all," Byakuran reassures the storm, knowing that Tsuna would listen to any concerns Hayato brought up and thus messing with their chances.

"Where's the Varia leader?" Verde intercedes, the tone of voice suggesting he knows exactly where the man is.

Skull steps towards the window Verde is leaning against and finds a mop of brown hair next to one of black in the twisted hedge maze that is the Vongola back yard.

* * *

As soon as the fighting starts, he slips out and heads for the backyard.

Xanxus crushes the pure white rocks underfoot as he navigates the twists and turns. He's always hated the hedge maze for a combination reasons:

The gardeners taking care of it would somehow magically move the hedges and create a differently structured maze that they tell no one about.

The path is made of white rocks that grind against each other if the lightest pressure is put on them, so no one can sneak around.

The hedges trap and release the soundwaves strangely, so someone can be talking to you through the hedge on the left but sound ten meters away behind you.

But most of all, the Decimo had his shitty hyper intuition which somehow ignores all of the negatives and allows the brat to literally walk blindfolded straight to the centre on the first try.

Xanxus snarls and contemplates just flying overhead but that seems lazy – almost like he would be cheating.

"Xanxus?" Tsuna calls out from everywhere at once, sounding like he's smiling.

"What, trash?" Xanxus barks out by habit.

"Nothing," Tsuna says lightly, this time his voice sounding from the right. "It's just that I heard your growl and I thought you were saying hello, like Bester does."

Another thing Xanxus hates about this maze is that his box weapon often escapes to hide with Tsuna inside it.

"You're not far from the middle," Tsuna begins, voice ringing out from above. "Just go back a few steps, slide left through the small gap and-"

Tsuna startles when a large ball of Wrath flames incinerates a human sized door in the hedge to his immediate left.

"Or you could do that, I suppose," Tsuna deadpans.

Xanxus shrugs, tucking his gun back into the hip holster. Those stupid gardeners deserve it.

The centre of the maze boasts a network of intricately designed marble posts at the edge, holding up wires for the plants to crawl over. In-between the poles are equally detailed benches and in the direct centre is a quiet pond filled with different species of fish and the occasional amphibian.

He takes a seat beside Tsuna on one of the marble benches, stretching his legs out in front of him. His scars standout under the shifting shadow of the vines overhead, casting a feral look over his features.

Tsuna jolts and quickly looks away when Xanxus turns to him.

"I have your ring," the Varia leader blurts out.

Tsuna automatically glances down to his hand and counts his rings. The Vongola one and Natsu are both there. He looks up at Xanxus in confusion.

Xanxus laces his fingers in his lap and stares determinedly at the pond.

"Oh, you mean as a Mark," Tsuna breathes out, suddenly strangely disappointed that Xanxus is joining the others in messing with him. He had honestly though the other boss took him seriously. "When did this start?"

Xanxus flickers a glance to Tsuna, peering at the Decimo sideways at the abrupt change in tone. The question was almost bitter, almost angry.

"I mean," Tsuna backtracks and starts again with a calmer, almost nonchalant tone. "It was funny at first, but hasn't the joke gone on a bit too long?"

He thinks he should be angry at how Tsuna was dismissing him -annoyed at the least- but from what the others were saying, the Decimo thinks its psychological warfare.

Xanxus knows psychological warfare.

He used to be trapped in ice, conscious of every moment, aware of every person who ever visited just to stare at him with pity, all while unable to do anything but feel weak.

He distinctly remembers Timoteo's visits – the speeches, the disappointed sighs.

As if Xanxus should be feeling bad.

As if he was the monster.

"It's not a joke," is all Xanxus says, instead of flicking the safety off his guns.

"What is it then?" Tsuna sighs. "What's the end goal?"

The Varia commander can't really tell Tsuna, because he doesn't quite know either.

"Then could you please stop?" Tsuna asks politely, distantly.

"I wish I could."

Tsuna blinks at the answer and turns to see Xanxus slipping back through the large hole in the maze, with leaves still glowing red from the fire.

* * *

.

A/N:

I got a really epic guest review about how my Hayato was 'emotionally mature and selfless', and I was so happy, and now I just want to make this a 5927 – but no. For you, anonymous, this will be All27. However, you might want to brace yourself because this shit is going to get ugly real soon.


	9. Gardeners

Title: Repeat (Gardener's Story)

Summary: The Vongola mansion helpers love Sawada Tsunayoshi like a parent would. So maybe if they test his suitors, just a little, that's entirely in their right.

.

* * *

They rush to the backyard and activate their flames or weapons to carry them over the hedges, destroying a few in their rush. They reach the middle in seconds but both Xanxus and Tsuna aren't there.

They land in the middle and grumble about secret passageways as they kick at the ground and push some of the suspicious decorations on the pillars, but no trap door reveals itself.

Suddenly the maze shoots up in height and grows overhead, blotting out the sun and casting heavy shadows over the place.

Kyouya leaps up to get out but the dark green leaves rustle in a non-existent wind, before abruptly snapping to a silver colour and stilling. Kyouya slashes out with his tonfa but instead of cutting through, he drops back to the ground with deep gouges in his weapons.

Everyone abruptly takes a step back from the outpouring of killing intent.

"How dare you," a voice hisses from hidden speakers as dramatic music plays in the background of the talker. "You damaged our beautiful baby!"

Reborn sighs heavily. He really hates the gardeners. In fact, it might just be Tsuna who likes this irritating maze.

The hedges abruptly start closing in rapidly like an Indiana Jones trap was just set off.

"Fuck that shit," Skull mutters and darts for the exit, back into the maze itself. The rest quickly follow.

"It's changed," Fon says, referring to the routes.

Hayato grits his teeth and grumbles, having memorised it for nothing on the way over.

A loud rustling sound and they all glance back to see the hedges on either side slamming together and cutting off any way but forwards. If anyone got trapped in between the hedges when they closed, they'd be torn to shreds from the leaves.

Takeshi laughs, something dark and jagged as he skids to a stop and turns on the hedges with his sword raised.

"Don't do it, Takeshi!" Dino cries out.

The swing is caught in hidden vines behind the leaves and the hedges close around him.

Chrome gasps in horror and turns to go back but Mukuro catches her elbow.

"Move," Mukuro orders. "He's already gone."

Reborn lets go a hail of sun activated bullets at the hedges to the side but they just pass harmlessly through. Hayato tries dynamite and Enma tries his powers of gravity, but the hedges just grow over the dead ones and keep going.

"Cloud flames, definitely," Verde muses, looking a bit too interested.

A three pronged fork arrives in the road, and everyone immediately knows it's a trick to split them up. Not that they care in the slightest.

"Follow me," Fon calls and darts down the right pathway. The rest of the Arcobaleno go with him.

"Come," Kyouya snarls and charges left. The Vongola follow him.

Enma and Dino frown, hesitating at the fork as they wonder which way to go.

"For Narnia!" Byakuran giggles and sprints down the middle path.

Enma steps to the left to follow the Vongola but the hedges immediately close that path. Dino, seeing that, lunges for the Arcobaleno but that closes off too.

An ominous rustling and the two turn to see the hedges swiftly joining and rushing closer with sharpened knives for leaves.

They quickly rush after Byakuran.

* * *

The Arcobaleno don't get far down the path, because after a few twists and turns, they end up in a dead end. They're boxed into a small square as the walls move slowly inwards, ready to slice and crush them.

"Oh," Fon hums. "I didn't take into account that the wind would flow differently here."

"Next time, Fon doesn't get to lead," Reborn grumbles, scanning the area for weaknesses.

"Like you could have done any better," Skull snaps, slowly edging back from the shivering hedges.

"Yes, because I would have chosen the plant demon," Reborn says as if that proves anything.

"…No, I like this place better."

"Agreed," Verde chimes in, actually stepping closer to the homicidal plants to better see the leaves.

"None of you are any fun," Reborn dismisses even as he reaches out to snatch Verde away from the creeping vines hidden inside the hedges.

Abruptly, Skull lets out a startled yelp and pitches face first into the white stones.

Fon sees the blood red vine wrap around Skull's foot and is already moving when the cloud falls. He grabs the stuntman and pulls with all his might but the stones make him veritably useless as his feet can't find solid ground to brace himself. Skull gets yanked under the sharp hedges, and Fon, unwilling to let go, goes with him.

The entire thing takes barely a second.

Reborn blinks at Verde, the scientist shrugs in reply, and the two spin back to back so they can face the hedges surrounding them.

"Hey," Reborn muses as Leon forms into a spray bottle of plant killer. "Why would the gardeners use a red vine? It clashes with the colour scheme."

"That's what you focus on?" Verde sighs in exasperation and then freezes. "Oh," he breathes out. "Oh, well done, Reborn."

"What?"

Verde throws himself at the exact spot Skull and Fon disappeared into and starts wriggling under the hedge, grimacing at the leaves slicing cuts into his back.

"What the hell, Verde?"

Verde huffs but once he gets his head under its easy to see the tunnel and he quickly army crawls further into it. He can hear Reborn following and grimaces at how claustrophobic this escape route is. If he gets stuck, Reborn won't ever let him live it down.

Thankfully, the tunnel widens in diameter and soon Fon is helping Verde stumble to his feet, the scientist covered in dirt and scratched up, but finally back in daylight and not the dark hedge maze.

Reborn pops up behind them, somehow immaculate.

They all turn to see Skull petting Oodako and thanking the octopus profusely.

* * *

Byakuran and his not so merry men are able to run a lot longer than the Arcobaleno before they get cornered.

Well, technically they're out of the maze as they can now see the sunlight at the end, just a few meters away. The path behind closes up and stops as a barrier, but they don't move.

It shudders and takes a step forward. It's thick, writhing skin of vines move against each other and tighten into a beast. One of the flat hoofs crush white rocks underneath as it takes a step forward, and vines shoot into the ground before springing up and twisting further to take root again.

The head part was hundreds upon hundreds of stones, all held together in a lattice of thin ivy, a couple of rocks dropping as it moves.

The arms were elongated until they touched the ground, vines moving beneath the earth like the feet as well.

The beast rips it's arm away from the dirt and some of the vines detach from the creature with a snap.

It reaches out to them, and the stones that fall sound like a foreign language.

" _What have the gardeners been sniffing_?" Enma half shrieks, clearly hysterical.

Dino just sighs and unfurls his whip with a snap of the wrist.

Byakuran grins sharply and in a burst of orange sky flame, his two dragons are released from their box and immediately send streams of flame into the creature.

Enma grumbles but lights up his own flame as well.

* * *

The Vongola move further than the rest.

Kyouya takes a left at the intersection they come to, simply to take down the weird plant creature he finds. Thankfully, his homicidal urges are back down to a normal level after the vicious slaughter, because when Hayato orders him to _hurry the fuck up_ , he only rolls his eyes but keeps going nonetheless.

The hedges, having caught up to them when Kyouya was playing, fall behind once again as Kyouya takes off in a blur.

Mukuro frowns at the next T junction coming up, sensing the use of mist flames in the left to hide some kind of trap with poison darts. They didn't have time for that, so he calls out, "Go left!"

As expected, Kyouya turns right.

Hayato sends Mukuro a questioning glance and Mukuro nods toward the correct way, the route Kyouya took.

Hayato rolls his eyes and then curses when he sees the white stones in a very obvious pattern – to him at least.

"Mines, up ahead," Hayato calls out and speeds up to the front as Kyouya falls back. He leaps across the stretch of ground, only touching the gaps where none of the bombs would be set off.

The rest mimic him in some strange, high-risk follow the leader.

Mukuro takes over next when Hayato falls back. The mist guardian forms a shroud of illusions over the group as they pass the motion sensors. At another fork in the road, he sends an identical copy of them down the right as he takes the left and the hedges are tricked into chasing the fakes.

They hit a dead end though.

"Wonderful," Hayato grumbles.

Chrome sniffles.

"Wa-wait," Hayato quickly backtracks. "It's okay, we'll get out."

The female mist starts letting out sobs that shake her shoulders and suddenly throws herself at Kyouya and buries her face into his chest.

Mukuro drops the illusion hiding them in shock.

Kyouya was too stunned to get out of the way and gets trapped in a hug by Chrome's painfully strong grip. He looks up at the other two with wide eyes.

Hayato and Mukuro shake their heads vigorously and take a huge step back from the crying woman.

The plants do so as well.

Kyouya finally manages to unlatch her from around his waist and she stumbles from the shove, crying harder into her hands now.

Hayato throws his hands up and mouths 'what the fuck was that?' but Kyouya just shrugs and looks lost.

Chrome, still sobbing into her hands, stumbles blindly away and even the plants part for her. She steps out of the maze and drops her hands as the crying abruptly cuts off.

She turns back to the other three and gives a sweet smile, with no tears to speak of.

"That was twisted," Kyouya mutters in admiration and follows her path.

Hayato and Mukuro lunge through just before the hedges close, and blink at how Chrome now has a certain sway to her walk that makes it look remarkably like a strut.

"Did you teach her that attack?" Hayato whispers to the mist.

Mukuro flails, still in shock that Chrome would hit below the belt like that.

"Wow, seems like you guys have had a rough time," Takeshi pipes up from beside them.

Hayato startles and puffs up like a cat as he hisses in anger. "What the hell, I thought you were dead!"

Takeshi laughs and sheepishly rubs the back of his head. "Nah, I just said sorry and they let me out."

* * *

.

A/N:

Okay, so I actually forgot that this chapter needed to be done, so after this will be the heartbreak.


	10. Theirs

Title: Repeat (Their Story)

Summary: Tsuna scans the room and the impatient stares. Fine - if they want a Soul Mate, he'll give them a Soul Mate.

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* * *

Hana looks Ryohei up and down and turns back to Tsuna with a raised eyebrow. Kyoko giggles from where she's sitting beside her friend on the ridiculously comfortable couch in the Decimo's office.

"Ryohei told me his a couple of days ago and I thought that you might like to see?" Tsuna tries, tapping out a nervous beat on Ryohei's chair that he's standing behind.

"Alright, monkey," Hana huffs and crosses her arms. "Show me your Mark."

Ryohei fidgets on the single chair opposite but relaxes when Tsuna places his hands on the boxer's shoulders in support. Ryohei unwinds the wrapping on his left hand to reveal a bright orange sun pressed into his palm.

Hana hums and edges the hem on her shorts up a bit to reveal the Mark on her left thigh. An orangutan stands there, holding up a yellow sun.

Kyoko bites her lip and braces for the verdict.

Hana hums again and stands, crossing the gap in two long strides to loom over Ryohei with her hands on her hips.

Ryohei keeps a blank face as she snatches up his hand and looks at it closer.

"We'll see where this goes," she finally declares.

Tsuna and Kyoko burst into cheers as Ryohei's face splits into a huge grin. Hana rolls her eyes at them all and drags Ryohei up from the couch and out the door.

Kyoko giggles at the blissfully happy look on her brother's face, and Tsuna is stunned by how beautiful the woman is. He thinks that she should always be this happy.

Tsuna takes a step forward.

And then the others burst into the office.

"Tsuna, wait!" Enma cries. "Just wait a bit," the other boss asks, a bit calmer when he takes in that Tsuna hasn't said anything yet.

The Decimo frowns but doesn't stop the slightly dirtied and ruffled adults from spreading around the room, Xanxus slipping in last and leaning against the wall off to the side.

"I know exactly what this is about," Tsuna speaks up when Reborn opens his mouth. "And it has…" Tsuna flickers a glance to Xanxus. "It has occurred to me that some of you honestly believe what you're saying. I'm sorry if I was rude to you in anyway when you approached me, but I won't take back my decision."

"Will you hear us out?" Mukuro asks.

Tsuna slides a glance to Kyoko and takes deep breath. "Will you hear me out?" he requests instead.

"Of course," Skull says after a short moment of glancing between the adults.

Tsuna's eyes flicker around the room to connect with everyone's and he speaks up with a steady voice. "You believe your Marks match with mine, but I think there are better combinations."

Tsuna breathes in deeply and on the exhale, lets out a vortex of flame. The fire fills the room in the blink of an eye and they hold back their instinctive reactions, because they know this fire won't burn them.

The people still in shock when very specific spots on their clothes burn off and Marks begin showing.

Tsuna inhales and the fire swarms back to him, leaving the occupants of the office stunned. Their eyes flicker to all the other Soul Marks almost in reflex.

The results are mixed.

Hayato stares at the words _gravity-defying_ on the rain's ribs and Takeshi is equally entranced with Hayato's _The sky is not a limiting agent_ , both of them painfully aware of how the font matches.

Kyouya tilts his head at the picture on the inside of Chrome's elbow, the little white rabbit encased in the shadow of a snarling wolf. Chrome blushes but can't look away from the glass behind Kyouya, entranced by the bunny there that was hiding so much power.

Dino gulps at the _127_ Mark on Byakuran's collar bone, and struggles to not show weakness by covering up his own, on the opposite collar being his Mark of _721_. Byakuran's expression is blank.

Enma braces himself for death when he sees Xanxus lock onto the traitorously placed mirror behind him, and catch sight of the red head's Vongola crest, but Enma has to admit to himself that he's more focused on Xanxus' own upper arm and the ring there – the combined ring of earth and sky that Tsuna made a replica of and gifted him with. As in the one on his hand right now. The Varia leader says nothing and looks away.

Fon makes no outward reaction past glancing at the mark on Skull's face, usually covered by that bandage, and then locking eyes with the cloud Arcobaleno. Skull doesn't even flinch at the intensity of the storm's eyes, too stunned by Fon's abdomen and the _Ground fire_ there as he compares it to his own _Crown fire_.

Verde grimaces in disgust at Reborn's _Dying will is both a state of being and a promise_. Reborn's reaction isn't much better when he sees Verde's hip and the scientist's own scar like Mark proclaiming _Dying will means I promise you my dying breath, but I swear that you'll never see it_.

Tsuna relaxes hesitantly when no fighting breaks out. They're all shocked of course, and many will be in denial, but it'll work itself out. Tsuna knows that they'll be happy. After all, they've met their Soul Mates.

He turns to Kyoko then, ready to finally confess but he freezes when he sees her expression.

Mukuro stares into an eye, one that hasn't gone without a contact in so long, and sees the word _Stranger_ in Japanese before automatically translating it to Italian – to Estraneo. Kyoko only smiles, holding the coloured contact on a finger, having known for a while now ever since Chrome told her about Mukuro's Mark - the _Namimori_ that used to sit in his eye.

So Tsuna stands there, lost in a room full of friends, and hates that he actually expected this.

Oh, he wished and he hoped, but this was always going to be the end result.

After all, who would want Dame-Tsuna?

* * *

.

A/N:

You might have noticed that I changed this story to 'complete'.

 **aha** _ **ha** hahahhaHAHAHA_HHAHA **HHhahahahah** HAHAHhahhhahh **ahHHHA** _HAHHAahahah_


	11. Nana

Title: Repeat (Nana's Story)

Summary: Tsuna needs some space from the Mafia and a safe place to stay. Where else would he go but his mum's house?

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* * *

Nana is a romantic woman at heart.

Of course she is, she's met her Soul Mate and he's the kindest, most loving husband out there.

The people that know her wouldn't be surprised to know that she has always believed in Soul Mates, and past that, the fate behind it.

When she was a girl she would wake every day to her parents' bright singing and happy laughter. She would bounce down the steps of her house and come to face her dad pressing a kiss to his descriptor on her mother's hand, and in turn Nana's mum would kiss his cheek and the woman's descriptor there.

They say that Soul Mates still face relationship troubles, that you have to work to gain a proper love, but Nana takes one look at her blissfully happy parents and disagrees.

It's fate find your Soul Mate.

Nana's parents have, Nana's has, and now it's Tsuna's chance.

This is something she repeats to her wonderful son whenever he looks down, and it used to perk him up, but when he showed up at her door, he burst into sobs.

She immediately threw her arms around him and led him inside to where they both collapsed onto the couch.

Now, she cards her fingers through a sleeping Tsuna's hair and thinks on his problem. It's sad how he's given up on finding his Soul Mate, at such a young age as well.

She'll just have to point out that she only met Iemitsu after thirty.

* * *

 _At mum's. Just need a break, please don't follow._

Kyouya throws the note down onto the breakfast table and the room, already dead silent, develops a tint of anger at the edges.

"Oh no," Kyoko hums in concern. "Tsuna was homesick."

And everyone hates her, at least a little.

"I guess that's why he didn't want to stay and get to know his new Soul Mates," Kyoko nods to herself, the mystery solved.

Time seems to stop and the thought occurs to all of them that it would have been more strange had they been linked to Tsuna whilst not being linked to each other.

"Mother fucker," Enma blurts out and spins on his heel to leave but the scientist speaks up.

"He needs time," Verde says. "He thinks that his Soul Mate, the one he's been pining over since he was seven, isn't his."

"He's not distant like you," Reborn points out. "He doesn't find relief in being isolated."

"If we go over now, Tsuna won't be in pain for any longer," Hayato agrees.

Mukuro lets out a tired chuckle. "The mind is a twisted place. If Tsunayoshi didn't believe us before, how's he going to now when he thinks he's alone?" Mukuro asks. "We need a plan before we leave."

"Because that worked so well last time," Xanxus chimes in.

They broke into a spiteful argument that quickly degenerated from words.

Dino pushed away from the wall just outside the door, having arrived at the start of the argument. He palms his phone and calls for Romario to prepare a pane.

* * *

.

A/N:

Damn, you guys are insane! Your responses were hilarious, the way you were sad but still hedging your bets to see if I would continue. Wow, I love you all.

The last chapter was actually my original intent when I started this, but the reviews I got from you all throughout were really invested, so I changed my mind around the Reborn-Enma chapters, but I couldn't get rid of it entirely.

Anyway, I wonder how many readers I lost?

Yours truly,

Trololololol


	12. Dino

Title: Repeat (Dino's story)

Summary: Dino gives approximately zero fucks.

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* * *

A polite knock on the door and Dino is soon face to face with a saddened Nana.

"Oh, Dino, it's good you're here," Nana frets. "Tsu-kun came home a bit…"

"Lost?" Dino suggests quietly and offers up a shrug. "I'm here to hopefully fix that."

Nana stares him down for a brief moment but steps back and gestures him inside. "He's in his room," she directs.

With a thankful nod to the house owner, he's up the stairs in a blur and hovering outside the door. It takes a deep breath but he knocks.

There's no reply.

"Tsuna," Dino calls softly. "I'm going to come in, okay?"

There's no reply.

Dino bites his lip and takes another minute to finally open the door. It moves smoothly and all too soon Dino is closing it behind him. There's a lump on the bed. He needs a double take to realise that it's Tsuna hidden under his sheets. It looks too small to be the Decimo.

Dino says nothing, not quite sure how to start. He takes a step towards the bed, and when nothing happens he moves to hover hesitantly over the side.

The lump rolls a bit and leaves a deliberate space for Dino. The Chiavarone boss slowly lowers himself down onto his back, and awkwardly laces his fingers on his stomach as he stares up at the ceiling.

"Contrary to what a lot of people expect from me," Dino says slowly. "I honestly don't care about Soul Marks."

The lump shifts a little.

"I…" Dino trails off. "Don't know where to start," he finishes and laughs once, hollowly. "Sorry, I should get Romario in here."

He goes to roll off the bed but a hand shoots out from the blankets and grabs a fist full of his collar, slamming him back down onto the mattress as the blankets go flying overhead. They settle over Dino when they fall but that was a vague feeling compared to the eyes of fire hovering above him.

Tsuna stares down at the man from where he was sitting on Dino's hips. He leans forward, one hand planted beside the Chiavarone's head while the other still fists the material of his shirt.

"Start from the beginning," Tsuna orders.

Dino takes a breath and starts. "My parents aren't Soul Mates."

Tsuna shifts down until he was pinning the man by lying over him. He buries his face the warm neck and listens.

"It never bothered them – in fact they would joke about it," Dino admits, his voice getting louder from it's mumbling and gaining strength. "But I saw their blissful love every day, and I promised to myself that if I met the right person, I wasn't going to care about being Soul Mates or not."

Tsuna tightens his grip on Dino's shirt.

"I promised, that if I met the right person, I would mark them myself with a ring," Dino swears, but his voice goes soft and hesitant for the next part. "I know that sounds really mushy, but I did come up with this when I was like four… so…" He falls silent.

Tsuna shuffles about on the man and raises himself up on an elbow, still holding the shirt in one hand.

Dino glances at him, nervous.

"I think it's sweet," Tsuna admits with a smile.

Dino blushes and grins up at the Decimo.

"Although," Tsuna continues with a teasing smirk. "I thought you were going to say how my phone number ends in 721."

Dino shares a sheepish smile. "I'd thought about it, but I couldn't convince myself that our bond was that flimsy."

Tsuna rolls over and melts into Dino's side. The man's shirt gets pulled across, along for the ride.

"I always felt bad when they would talk to me about Soul Marks," Tsuna admits. "Because I know they're trying to get to me now, but at the start -before I knew it was a game- I actually thought they cared that much."

Dino shifts the arm Tsuna is on to wrap around the Decimo's shoulders.

"I thought I was being cruel because I couldn't reassure them that I was their Soul Mate, and I couldn't take away that longing," Tsuna whispers.

"It's your choice, Tsuna, they can't force you," Dino counters.

"I know," Tsuna reassures him and then grumbles quietly, "Not that it actually matters with them playing around… can't believe I actually though Xanxus was being serious..."

Dino, not having caught the mumble, continues the main conversation. "And also when they asked, you thought of Kyoko, and how she might reject you, and got depressed, and-"

Tsuna reaches up and flicks the hollow of Dino's throat. The man chokes and hunches his shoulders as his trachea takes the hit.

"You've been spending too much time with Kyouya," Dino grumbles but relaxes again when Tsuna tucks his hands away. "He does it as well."

"I know, I copied him," Tsuna declares happily. "It works well."

"So…?" Dino hums.

Tsuna huffs. "I saw their whole hearted belief and wished that I could have that certainty. I just really wanted that magical, instant love." He ducks his head and face plants into Dino's shoulder. "But you're right, I'd rather a love that was actually compatible."

"… Is now a bad time to say I love you?"

A sigh. "Dino, have they brainwashed you as well?"

An equally loud sigh. "Tsuna, one day you're going to wake up and it's going to hit you like a Leon hammer that everyone is being totally serious and that we haven't actually been playing with you."

"Yeah," Tsuna agrees sarcastically. "Well, when that day comes, you'll be the first I call."

Dino buries his head into Tsuna's hair. "That's all I could ever ask for."

* * *

Hayato, with his Juudaime radar, is the first to find him. The Storm watches half hidden behind a corner as his boss strides through the Vongola base with a bright smile and a straight back.

The right hand man follows the hypnotising figure, only half noticing the group that amasses around him, and steps into the Decimo's office.

"Welcome home, Juudaime," Hayato greets softly.

Tsuna looks up to see his friends and his smile is blinding. "It's good to be home," he counters, and then continues. "I've decided, I don't need a Soul Mate." At that abrupt declaration, he disappears into a secret passage with a couple of files.

As one, they turn to Dino who steps into the office behind them, but the Chiavarone immediately cuts them off. "You're all acting like morons," he growls. "Get your shit together because I won't have you messing with Tsuna any longer."

"We're not-" Takeshi starts to protest.

"You are," Dino speaks over him. "All of you, figure out if you want a Soul Mate or Tsuna, because I'm getting sick of seeing him so upset."

* * *

.

A/N:

You'll notice a lot of contrary views and opinions in this, which is because of the different POVs and how people keep on changing their mind - these characters are really just mostly confused.

Dino thinks they only want a Soul Mate, especially from the conversation he overheard where they only thought to go after Tsuna when Kyoko pointed out that the Marks still matched the Decimo.

Everyone else is just caught up in finding proof for Tsuna that they kind of lost sight of their main goal.

Anyway, next chapter is Tsuna-centric. **If you want his view on a specific person, please comment who (and if you want, why he likes them).** I'll try to add it in, but I make no promises.


	13. Thoughts

Title: Repeat (Thoughts)

Summary: Tsuna feels like he just had his legs hacked off with a chainsaw, and it's only his acting ability that keeps his friends from noticing. But when he's alone, the thoughts come gushing out.

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* * *

"Would you like some, Tsuna?" Bianchi asks, gesturing to the pot of … soup in front of her.

Standing by the kitchen entrance is Tsuna and Kyouya, who just stepped in for a quick bite after their last meeting with a newer famiglia. Its been three days since Tsuna arrived back in Italy but he's been completely swamped with work from his sudden trip to Japan and this is the first time he's had to relax. He has barely any time to even say hello to his friends before the business talk starts.

Tsuna pastes a smile on because no matter how long he's known her, he can't tell Bianchi about how bad her normal cooking is. Tsuna shifts closer to Kyouya's side and places a hand on his back in a friendly manner, pumping an edited version of Zero Point Breakthrough into Kyouya's body. The cloud stiffens and tries to pull away but Tsuna's technique is fast acting for a reason.

"Actually," Tsuna begins lightly. "That looks delicious. Yeah, I would love some-"

And finally Kyouya goes down, eyes slipping shut as he becomes limp and pitches forwards. Tsuna catches him and lifts him up, making sure to keep a concerned expression on his face.

"Kyouya, are you alright?" Tsuna asks in a worried tone but the cloud is completely unconscious.

"You should get him to the infirmary," Bianchi says with a frown. "I hope it's nothing bad."

"Oh I'm sure he'll be fine," Tsuna says, a little too light hearted. "I'll take him now, bye!"

Bianchi waves to a retreating Tsuna and goes back to the … soup. Maybe she'll take some to Kyouya after he wakes up.

Tsuna slows down his fast walk to a calm stride now that he's escaped cleanly. He comes to an abrupt halt in the middle of the hallway and stares down at the unconscious man in his arms. Kyouya is going to slaughter him.

Why did Tsuna do that?!

He should have just taken Bianchi's soup! Calling Reborn a brony and insulting his fedora would have been better than knocking Kyouya out and rushing through half the Vongola mansion with Tsuna's cloud carried bridal style in his arms!

* * *

"Decimo?" the concerned nurse blurts out in shock at seeing the Decimo's expression, immediately rising from his seat and rushing over. "Here, use this bed."

Tsuna follows the pointing finger and sets Kyouya down gently.

"What happened to him?" the nurse asks.

"He's fine," Tsuna chokes out, blinking back the tears that are making his eyes shine. "I'm the one who's going to die."

"What's the problem?" the nurse says slowly, unsure if he should just leave and get someone better equipped for this. Namely, a Guardian. "Are you sick?"

"Mentally sick, yes," Tsuna sighs and drags a hand down his face.

"I… okay, I'll just go get someone," the nurse sounds out, slowly creeping from the room.

"No, it's fine," Tsuna calls out but the nurse has already escaped.

He looks down at Kyouya and runs his hand through the man's hair. Tsuna will never get this chance again so he takes his time petting the cloud.

"Please don't kill me when you wake up," Tsuna sighs and turns to leave.

The world blurs as his wrist is grabbed and he's yanked down onto the bed, Kyouya suddenly hovering over him.

"Wh-when did you wake up?" Tsuna stutters.

"When did I fall asleep?" Kyouya teases. "Don't tell me you honestly thought I could be taken down just like that," he drawls, lifting a hand and reaching for Tsuna.

Tsuna winces and squeezes his eyes shut in preparation for a beating but his hair is pushed to the side and soft lips press a kiss to his temple. Tsuna's eyes snap open but Kyouya is already standing.

"Just take your time, herbivore," Kyouya calls over his shoulder as he leaves, ready to hunt down the nurse before it gets to someone.

* * *

After recovering from a heart attack, Tsuna stumbles to his room, flops down on his bed, and laughs. The last time Kyouya had kissed him on the forehead, it was an apology because the cloud had broken Tsuna's entire rib cage by accident during a spar.

Tsuna honestly has no idea what Kyouya was sorry for. After all, Tsuna is completely fine with Kyoko not being his Soul Mate.

That's a lie.

However, Tsuna is determined to ignore Soul Mates because so what if he has to work for his true love? He wants it like that, actually, instead of his partner feeling obligated to stay with Tsuna just because of the Mark.

Tsuna will love who he wants to love, and he wants it to be whole hearted and serious.

Okay, so Tsuna has been flipping between taking their confessions at face value and thinking they're messing with him. However, that last option seems to be off the table because despite his warped sense of self from his younger days with bullies, he does understand that these people are his friends and wouldn't hurt him like that.

However, just because they aren't messing with him doesn't mean they're serious with the confessions. He remembers how they would slide in subtle questions about what Tsuna would do if Kyoko wasn't his Soul Mate, and he definitely remembers how they reacted when Kyoko's Mark was revealed.

Tsuna thought they were trying to suggest his Mark matches theirs, but now Tsuna can see how they had been trying to prepare him for the reveal. They must have known Kyoko wasn't his Soul Mate and all the confessions were trying to distract him and stall, or maybe even prove how flimsy Soul Marks were in meaning and representation.

Tsuna hasn't seen the rest for longer than a few minutes so he can't be entirely certain on the theory, but Kyouya for one doesn't seem to care for Marks.

Tsuna had asked about Chrome during breaks in the meeting and Kyouya freely admitted both liked each other as close friends. They didn't feel any responsibility to start dating immediately, and wouldn't push for that, but if it eventually went that way then both would flow with it.

Tsuna had sighed at the completely relaxed way of going about the world, but he kind of likes that method.

Kyouya has been behaving well lately. Maybe that's because of how busy he is. The man is often in Japan and focused on running the Foundation, the cloud section of Vongola and Namimori middle school as the principal.

Despite that, he still takes time off and drops half dead Vongola enemies in front of Tsuna like some disturbing offering, or maybe he's trying to show Tsuna how to hunt. There are too many animal metaphors whenever Kyouya is involved, that's for sure.

He honestly does spend time helping Tsuna though, with the Vongola as a whole, and he's always there to push Tsuna into being his utmost best. Kyouya demands perfection, and more than that, he sees Tsuna at the very top. No question asked, Kyouya is just completely certain that Tsuna can do whatever he puts his mind to.

Kyouya is encouraging and fierce and Tsuna always looks forward to spending time with him no matter what they do. Tsuna would definitely want that in a partner.

Tsuna rolls onto his side and stares blankly at the wall.

That train of thought went into a strange territory and Tsuna kind of feels guilty at thinking of Kyouya like that, but again, it's not like anyone would know, right? There's nothing wrong with a hypothetical scenario.

So Tsuna contemplates his friends as love interests.

He's not too sure how to go about it since they all seem detached from any sort of romance. None of them have had partners since Tsuna first met them, but then again it could be explained by them not wanting to be intimate with someone when they could just destroy yet another building.

Speaking of destroying buildings, Xanxus is one such man that Tsuna can't really see as a romantic person. Under his tough exterior is … barbed wire and shrapnel bombs. There's really no soft part to the man.

However, the man already treats him nice, not in the stereotypical way but as in he'll listen to Tsuna and help him sort out any problems (usually with violence) and brings Tsuna cute souvenirs every time he comes back from a trip (filled with violence).

Xanxus isn't someone Tsuna sees when he thinks 'romantic partner' but the man is surprisingly attentive, and when he does care, it's with his whole being.

The next person to flicker into Tsuna's mind makes him huff out a laugh.

Reborn is just a no go with any romantic feelings. Tsuna honestly can't see the man as anything but a completely platonic friend. Tsuna looks back on all the actions and expressions and knows for a fact that Reborn loves him and is incredibly possessive.

However, the man doesn't seems sexually attracted to Tsuna, and that's perfectly fine. Tsuna just kind of wants to stay with Reborn no matter what happens.

He sighs and rolls over.

Takeshi is someone he's very close to, and the man is an amazing friend that Tsuna can relax with and just talk for hours to, barely aware of time moving. Takeshi is someone who's romantic, who would want to go on that perfect first date and have that magical first kiss.

Like Tsuna, actually. Tsuna wants to go through dating and the awkward spots and the bad times because that makes the good stand out so much more. Takeshi would be safe and sweet and oh so fluffy.

Tsuna gathers one of the pillows into his arms and hugs it.

Hayato is a great friend as well and a ridiculously competent right hand. The man is a genius, can't quite let go of his punk style, and it's unfair to call his admiration now anything close to hero worship like in Hayato's younger days.

The man knows the Decimo's flaws in order to compensate for them. It isn't awe in Hayato's eyes, it's… pride. Pride for Tsuna, and just a tinge of smugness as if to say 'this is my boss and my friend, and I'd love to see you try and call, but there's no shame in folding'.

Tsuna decides the poker metaphor is a good choice because Hayato is an excellent gambler, even without counting cards.

The man would be focused on Tsuna and always there to listen and incredibly caring like he always is, knowing exactly what Tsuna wants with just a glimpse. Yeah, Tsuna could see himself very, very happy with Hayato.

Tsuna squishes the pillow tighter and sighs.

The more Tsuna thinks about it, he wonders what dating these people would be like. Certainly, most were just trying to soften the blow of Kyoko not being his Soul Mate when they confessed, but Tsuna could hesitantly name one or two that might be telling the truth.

Maybe … Tsuna could be with one of them. He trusts them with his life and he already loves them as a friend. It's only one small step to lover.

No, there's no need to push it. Tsuna doesn't need a lover, though he would like one, he'll just let it happen naturally.

Although he wonders how it would work. Tsuna still believes that Soul Mates are meant for each other, though he won't go looking for his. It's a huge relief, actually, to know that they all found their Soul Mates (and holy shit they had the luck of the Gods) but if Tsuna does end up with one of them then what would happen to the other person in the pair?

That is, if they love him.

Tsuna squeezes his eyes shut and tries to suffocate himself with the fluffy pillow.

He's spent pretty much his whole life thinking that Kyoko was the one, and now… nothing. He's actually surprised he managed to keep up the happy face for so long. It's bad enough that Dino showed up and saw his break down, but perhaps Tsuna shouldn't have pretended to be fine so quickly.

In truth Tsuna is still reeling from it, and he's still half in denial about the whole thing. To put all of your hope into someone, that they'll love you forever, and then have that ripped away … it hurts.

Thinking hypothetically about another loving him is fine, but rationalising it in reality is a whole other struggle. He tries to imagine himself with someone but all he thinks about is that no one could possibly want him just for his personality.

If it was a complete stranger, maybe so they could influence Vongola, sure, which is why Tsuna has never once considered someone out of his close circle of friends.

But for someone to love him - still tripping over his feet, still in need of pills to kick him into Hyper Dying Will Mode, still so dependent on people around him for help – the image just doesn't come.

He hopes his friends like him, no matter how selfish that is. He wants _all of them_ to like him, despite how messy that will be.

He rolls over onto his back and stares at the ceiling.

God, he is so pathetic.

* * *

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A/N:

This took forever, because I couldn't write Tsuna in character for so long. Still can't, I think. Oh Gods this was a bad chapter.


	14. Skull

Title: Repeat (Skull's story)

Summary: Skull looks at these people and he sees individuals playing at being a team. Whatever. He doesn't need backup, he's a Cloud after all.

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* * *

As Dino runs away from the mass of people he just pissed off, Skull doesn't stay for the pity party. Some people might be confused, but he sure as hell isn't, so he turns and walks straight out of the Vongola base.

Skull is just so sick of people telling him that he's a bad person for loving someone.

If that guard dog Hayato actually thought any one of them would force Tsuna or manipulate the Decimo into a relationship then those cigarettes have gone to his head.

For one, Tsuna is perfectly capable of making decisions himself, he's not going to just flop over if someone confronts him with a confession.

For another, is there something wrong with telling Tsuna about their feelings? Is it truly so bad to inform the man? If Tsuna says no, none of them are going to throw a tantrum and demand his love. Really, what's the worst case scenario that Hayato is contemplating?

As for Dino, well.

It was never about matching Marks or finding that mystical true love, Skull knows that. If pointing at a biological phenomenon and then jabbing a finger at the one you liked counted as a romantic gesture to some, then they are more than welcome to it.

Skull, on the other hand, has no such strange courting ritual to fall on. His Mark connects to everyone who can access flames, and then every single pyromaniac. But that doesn't matter, because he never claimed he wanted a Soul Mate (thank you very much, _Dino_ ) he was always after Tsuna.

The Cavallone boss seems confused about what the others want, which mostly comes from the fact that the others think they need to show proof of their love. Sure, it's half necessary because Tsuna is rather oblivious, but the way they go about trying to catch the Decimo's attention is ridiculous.

They mean well, he knows, but none of them are exactly well adjusted adults so sometimes the convoluted path makes more sense. So they'll try to prove their feeling with a Soul Mark, but that's just a conduit. It's Tsuna they're trying to reach, not the one matching their Mark.

Perhaps if they actually sat down and cleared up any confusion it would save them a whole lot of trouble, but this isn't a team sport.

It's a competition.

* * *

Skull waits until Tsuna settles in again, patiently watching until the work load of the Decimo slows to a trickle and the man stops rushing around. It's on a Tuesday that Skull implements his plan. It's not elaborate or particularly impressive because it doesn't need to be, it just has to catch Tsuna's attention and make the man smile.

Skull stands outside, to the side of the Decimo's office door, with his back pressed against the wall as he waits for the hyper intuition to kick in. For a finishing touch, he keeps the bottom half of his face hidden behind a bouquet of flowers. Not roses, or anything store bought and clinical in their perfection. It's a mash of sunflowers and daisies and tulips, handpicked and wrapped in cellophane with a bright orange bow.

It doesn't take long for the hyper intuition to sense Skull, and soon the Decimo opens his office door to poke his head out. Skull doesn't move from his pose at all.

"Hi, Skull," Tsuna greets softly with a fond smile for the surprisingly shy man.

The plastic covering of the flowers crinkles in Skull's hands and the Cloud slants a sideways glance at Tsuna. The Decimo, the Sky, the one who's so painfully kind where such a disposition can get you killed.

Skull isn't in love, because he's still falling. Every time he thinks he sees the bottom of the drop, Tsuna would smile or laugh, and Skull just slams straight through the floor and keeps on going.

This method might be a little manipulative, but Skull is past broken. He's a civilian stuntman who was handed a pacifier and drop kicked straight into the Mafia. His morals are going to be a little screwy.

(Yes, Tsuna, that embarrassed, shy look in my eyes means I'm starved for attention. Oh, a hug? No, I couldn't possibly inconvenience you like that.

 _And then the warmth.)_

* * *

Tsuna sees those beautiful purple eyes look so hesitant, and that Leon mallet Dino was talking about makes a sudden appearance. His thoughts from earlier come back, about how it would be so easy to fall in love with one of his friends.

Tsuna blushes a bright red and can't stop the smile from stretching across his face. "Let's put that in a vase, yeah?" He grabs Skull's elbow and pulls the man in.

"Do you like them?" Skull asks hesitantly as he passes over the bouquet, staring at Tsuna with wide, hopeful eyes.

"Of course," Tsuna reassures, hugging the flowers to him. "They're beautiful. I didn't even know sunflowers could grow into love heart shapes," he laughs.

"They can't," Skull smirks. "I stole those ones from Verde, he's trying to make the gardener's maze. Oh, and don't touch the petals, they're super sharp." Skull takes off a glove to show bandages and small cuts littering his hand.

Tsuna raises an eyebrow.

"What?" Skull huffs. "Those flowers are cool. Everyone likes sharp things."

Tsuna rolls his eyes and sits the Arcobaleno down on the couch before wandering about, getting the flowers set up on his desk. Skull puts on his glove again and worries his hands in his lap, peeking up at Tsuna when he thinks the Decimo isn't looking.

Unknown to both, Reborn fades out of a secret passage without a sound but pauses, completely covered by the angle of Tsuna's bookcases.

Tsuna flutters around as he cuts off the stems so they'll fit in the vase and takes off the plastic wrapping but keeps the bow, wrapping it around the vase instead. He has no idea what to say to the man sitting behind him, and the stupid blush won't go away.

Tsuna is done being self-conscious and hesitant. He won't think about it because if he does he'll withdraw and overthink everything that happens. Tsuna will go with the flow and right now Skull is sitting on his couch looking nervous and adorable and Tsuna wants to hug him.

Tsuna angles the last sunflower and then makes his way over to the couch, dropping down near Skull with a smile on his face. "So what have you been doing? Do you do anymore stunt shows?"

"Um, yeah, I started as soon as I got this body back." Skull nods with a smile and starts emerging from his nervousness. "People are still really excited when I show up, and I see my old fans waving to me in some shows. It's really nice."

Reborn tilts his head at the smile, the small gesture so honest. He suddenly remembers Takeshi and the kid's fake smiles before Tsuna got to the Rain.

"That's so sweet," Tsuna hums. "I'll have to visit you one day-"

A bullet flies just over their heads and slams into the wall, jolting both of them. Tsuna shrieks with Skull and they cling to each other.

"My, aren't you two cosy," Reborn drawls, his long stride carrying him over to the two, who immediately separate in preparation to run.

The hitman pauses in front of Tsuna and takes the Decimo's hand. Locking eyes with the brunet, Reborn bows over the hand and presses a kiss to Tsuna's knuckles.

"Are you kidding me?" Skull cries, his anger well hidden behind the exasperated tone and the half flail. "You can't just shoot at someone and then woo them."

"I believe I just did," Reborn counters.

"Don't worry, Skull," Tsuna cuts in, calm at the familiar territory. "Reborn pulls pigtails."

The room goes dead silent and then a giggle escapes Skull.

"I'll kill you both," Reborn grits out.

* * *

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A/N:

I'm pretty sure that Skull is the most terrifying one in this story.


	15. Final

Title: Repeat (The Final Story)

Summary: Tsuna runs and they chase.

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* * *

Skull takes it as a warning and leaps off the couch, snagging Tsuna's hand as he goes. They both cackle as Reborn chases them out of the room and down the hall. They take the turn almost too quickly and shriek as Reborn's fingers brush the back of their clothes.

Fon and Kyouya step out of a room ahead and blink at the chase scene, unsure if they should back away into the room again.

"Kyouya, Fon, save us!" Tsuna cries jokingly.

The two relatives share a glance and then plant their feet as they smirk, both of them managing to span the entire hallway and blocking off escape.

Skull, hand still gripping Tsuna's, scrapes his nails up the palm. Tsuna grips harder as the message is received. Just before they slam into the Cloud and Storm, they part. Skull drops down and skids between Fon's legs like a baseball pro, while Tsuna flips over Kyouya's head.

And they're gone.

Reborn blows past the two stunned men but soon they're following as well, all five vaulting over the staircase to drop to the floor of the front parlour. Tsuna almost lands on poor Enma who startles badly at raining men. The Earth flame user gets grabbed and pulled behind the Decimo with Skull sprinting along beside them.

"Tell my Guardians I love them!" Enma cries to a passing Vongola member, a final message before he dies a tragic death.

"It'll be fine," Tsuna scoffs, clearly delusional. "We'll lose them in the garden."

"Oh, not the garden again," Skull whines. A quick look behind him. "Never mind! I love the garden!"

"Why has Xanxus joined in?!" Enma blurts out, picking up the pace after he sees what made Skull panic.

"I think it's just instinct," Tsuna muses. "Him and Kyouya tend to chase when they see people run."

The three reach the hedge maze and get three steps inside before splitting up at the first intersection, Enma and Skull running off in different directions because no matter how much they love Tsuna, they are not getting in the way.

Skull honestly thinks he's lost them, right up until a bullet whizzes through the hedges and skims his ear. A squeak escapes him and he ducks belatedly.

"Try not to kill anyone," Fon berates lightly, his faint voice slipping through the hedges.

A few more turns and Skull encounters Verde messing with the vines hidden inside the leaves, a strange scanner thing in the scientist's hands that seems to be beeping in a disturbingly quick fashion.

Skull zooms past and snags Verde's arm, hoping to use him as a distraction. He's rather shocked that both of the Arcobaleno have chosen the wrong path, but whatever, he's not getting beaten up.

"Skull," Verde snaps, almost dropping the scanner as he's pulled along. "I was busy." He grips the stuntman's wrist and yanks backwards, forcing both of them to a stop. "What have I said about interrupting my work-"

Fon and Reborn whip around the corner.

Verde chooses the safest option and starts running again. "Why did you piss them off?" he hisses at Skull. "How did you make _Fon_ angry?"

"I don't know why they're chasing me!" Skull cries and then makes his voice louder so the other two can hear. " _Why are you chasing me? Tsuna went left!_ "

* * *

Enma faintly hears Skull sell out Tsuna and wonders why he hasn't done the same, especially considering Xanxus is tearing through the maze after him, and Enma just found a dead end.

Wait. Enma controls gravity.

Earth flame flares to life on his forehead he takes a huge leap over the hedge, unwilling to fly straight up in case Xanxus decides to shoot Enma out of the sky. Unfortunately, Enma doesn't see Tsuna and lands right before the Decimo slams into him.

Enma groans, the air pushed out of him from Tsuna landing on the Simon. Tsuna huffs out a laugh, half muffled in Enma's shirt, and pushes himself up.

Chrome, having been yanked into Tsuna's sprinting, skids to a stop on the rocks just in time to avoid collision but Kyouya (and Byakuran, who though it was a game and joined in) keep charging.

Chrome sniffles and hiccups, wiping away a tear. Byakuran quickly backpedals, nope-ing out of there. Kyouya looks indecisive for a brief second but vaults over a nearby hedge and disappears.

She stops.

"I think you're faking," Tsuna begins. "But my hyper intuition is dead silent right now."

Chrome giggles and plants a kiss on his cheek. He flushes and smiles back. Enma rolls his eyes.

The traitor then ushers Chrome back into a run, leaving a breathless Enma splayed on the ground. The Simon almost thinks it's done and he can finally eat lunch.

Heavy black boots thump onto the rocks beside Enma's head and he blinks up at the man blocking the sunlight from reaching Enma's eyes. Xanxus glares down, his scars vibrant against his tan skin.

* * *

Byakuran grumbles half-heartedly and kicks at the rocks. A cry of pain comes from around the corner and the hedges rustle loudly. Byakuran rolls his eyes and continues, eventually coming across Dino half swallowed by the leaves.

The mafia boss flails uselessly and Byakuran wonders if he should just find one of the suited men that follow Dino around like particularly muscled mother-hens. Dino slumps into the hedge, looking pathetic and hopeless.

Byakuran sighs and steps closer, planning to grab the back of the man's jacket and pull him out. He really was not expecting the man to start failing again and backhand him across the face.

Byakuran stumbles, his hand automatically coming up to cover the injured cheek. Dino finally pops out of the hedge, his struggling freeing him, and turns to find Byakuran staring with wide eyes.

"I am so sorry," Dino rushes out. "I didn't know you were there."

Byakuran slowly drops his hand and Dino winces at the almost perfect red imprint of the Chiavarone crest. Dino's luck is so bad that his family ring is the one that hit Byakuran.

"You wouldn't kill the Chiavarone boss, would you?" Dino stutters as Byakuran advances.

"I'm curious to see if cleansing the world is any easier the second time around."

* * *

Tsuna feels content, knowing that he saved Enma since the other man isn't involved in the great chase anymore. Chrome giggles breathlessly beside him and the two take a right turn at the intersection.

Takeshi and Hayato glance over when they hear the rocks crunch against each other and start jogging towards Tsuna.

"Tsuna!" Takeshi cries happily, waving. "Wow, Hayato's Juudaime radar worked."

"Oh, Tsu~na~yo~shi!" Mukuro calls in a sing-song voice, calmly striding down the path from where Takeshi and Hayato came from, clearly having stalked the two so they would lead him to Tsuna.

"Go," Chrome says. "I'll hold them off." She then bursts into tears, dropping to sit on the rocks as she buries her head in her hands.

Takeshi turns tail and runs, seconded by Hayato who breaks so hard he skids on the rocks, half falling before he plants a hand on the ground and scrambles to his feet.

Mukuro, on the other hand, simply speeds up into a run. "Not this time, Chrome," he laughs and leaps over the wailing woman.

* * *

Tsuna escapes while Chrome creates a diversion, and soon reaches the middle, panting but victorious. He doesn't see the wave of opaque indigo flame that washes over him from behind and engulfs him entirely.

When it disappears, Tsuna is backed against the wall of a small, private garage deep inside the crop of trees on the far side of the Vongola property. Mukuro stands only a few centimetres from him, staring into Tsuna's eyes.

Tsuna smiles and reaches up to cup Mukuro's face in his hand. "I know you don't think so, but both of your eyes are beautiful."

"You think the symbol of all my suffering is beautiful?" Mukuro replies scathingly, his mood taking a downturn due to the topic. "The only reason I haven't ripped it out is because it makes me stronger. It's a necessary evil, Sawada Tsunayoshi, much like Soul Marks."

"It's beautiful because it's yours," Tsuna corrects. "It's a symbol of how strong you are to get through everything that's happened."

"How… disgustingly naïve you are," Mukuro murmurs softly.

His eyes slide closed and when he opens them they stand in a field of flowers, tall enough to reach their hips with vibrant colours spanning the entire colour spectrum. A duo of butterflies twirl past, spinning around each other in flight before taking off into the field that stretches forever.

"Beautiful," Tsuna whispers, but he's not looking at the flowers.

"Tsuna?" A soft voice calls. "Are you there? I just saw you."

"Kyoko!" Tsuna calls out, bright and happy as he turns to where her voice came from.

Mukuro steps back as he lets the woman enter the illusion. He knows when he's not wanted.

Tsuna and Kyoko hug tightly and pull back to smile shyly at each other.

It's sickening to watch. Mukuro rips the illusion away from himself and reappears on plain grass near a small garage. He keeps it around the two others, blocking them from view in a dense mist bubble that blurs and smooths into the surroundings, completely erasing their presence.

It was never going to be easy or end up resolved in a few days, Mukuro knows that. It's an impossible thing to expect with this many people, equally as stubborn and about as co-operative as a brick wall.

Then there's Kyoko, who is always going to have Tsuna's attention. It would be so easy to hate her, but she honestly loves Tsuna, and Tsuna is just so happy with her. They fit well together, all soft edges and sweet words.

Mukuro takes a deep breath and straightens his back.

"And that's why you're an herbivore."

Mukuro whirls around and spots Kyouya perched on a branch overhead, stretched out on the tree limb without a care in the world. "Not now, Skylark," Mukuro dismisses. "I have better things to do than entertain you."

"No you don't," Kyouya denies, glancing over at the spot where Tsuna should be with an unreadable expression on his face.

"I'll have to try harder next time to keep his attention," Mukuro muses lightly, a fake smile coming quickly with the ease of experience.

"Fight me," Kyouya suddenly dares Mukuro.

The Mist turns to the waiting Skylark and there's a genuine smile on Mukuro's face. Bloodthirsty, but still real.

* * *

Tsuna deliberately ignores the faint sound of his hyper intuition pointing out a very large and very destructive fight happening only meters away.

"We'll figure this out together," Kyoko says with a soft smile.

Tsuna can't stop the grin from emerging. He highly doubts anyone will protest if he says he wants _all_ the options.

* * *

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A/N:

That was the end! Hope you enjoyed!

Although I could have spread it out more I kind of wanted it to end like this, still confusing and open to interpretation. I also didn't want everyone crowding around and proclaiming their love, all cutesy and disgusting, because that would have been too OOC.

Anyway, thank you for reading this and reviewing and everything else!


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